Is there anything that Google doesn't do? Seriously. Today the company has announced the first partners for its PowerMeter Tool.

Essentially, the PowerMeter (available as a Google gadget) shows consumers how much electricity they are using right from their computer. The idea is of course that when you can see how much electricity you are using on an appliance-by-appliance basis, you can make the necessary adjustments to reduce the amount of energy you are using/wasting. This clip has more:

"Unfortunately, many of today's smart meters don't display information to the consumer," says Google on the Google PowerMeter site. "We consider this unacceptable. We believe that detailed data on your personal energy use belongs to you and should be available in a standard, non-proprietary format. You should control who gets to see it, and you should be free to choose from a wide range of services to help you understand and benefit from it."

The Google PowerMeter was discussed earlier this year, but now we get to see who's using it and where. The following partners have been announced to start with (with more planned for later this year).

In addition to utilities, Google is also looking to create partnerships with companies that can enable the implementation of the software. The first company to enter into a partnership is meter and data management company Itron.